Vigor of Twelve is a play off of the fact that Jesus had twelve disciples. It is a name that helps stress an importance on discipleship. This blog is specifically geared for younger people and mature Christians who don't mind a fresh, bold, and blunt approach to faith. Comments welcome, let's begin the discussion!

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Friday, March 2, 2012

Acts 7:57-60

The
Sanhedrin put their hands over their ears and refused to listen to Stephen any
more. Then they dragged him out of the
city and stoned him. (More on that
later) Saul collected the outer garments
of the Sanhedrin so that they would not become “dirty” or “tainted” by the
act. Stephen cried out to the Lord for
God to receive Him – to look favorably on his sacrifice. Then, he asked for their forgiveness and
died.

Thoughts for Today:

First Thought:

I can
imagine this group of 72 Jewish leaders putting their hands over their ears and
saying “la-la-la-la-la we can’t hear you anymore.” Okay, not that they really did that, but it’s
also not too far from what they literally did.
They refuse to listen. By
stopping up their ears what is usually understood is that they clasped their
hands over their ears. At this point the
conversation is over. The truth cannot
penetrate any further. Stephen must now
die before they are forced to confess that he is right.

How
sad it is to see people refuse to listen.
How sad it is to see people unwilling to talk about their prior actions
and that they might actually be the one in error.

Have
you ever been guilty of refusing to see your error? How did you eventually come about seeing that
you were the wrong one? What might you
still not be willing to consider how you are in the wrong?

Second Thought:

Okay,
let’s talk about stoning. Typically we
think of a stoning as a time when people would pick up pebbles and pelt another
person with stones. And it did happen
that way from time to time. However, in
cases of judgment like this, most courts had a place where stonings were to
occur. It actually sounds something like
the tactics used by Neanderthals and other early hominids to kill mammoths. You would drive the victim into a narrow
gorge or corner them under a cliff. Someone
on top of the cliff would push a big boulder over the edge and it would crush
the victim underneath it. This is most
likely the type of “stoning” that Stephen received.

How
does this form of death strike you?
Would you be willing to go through with this for Christ?

Third Thought:

Much
like Jesus on the cross, Stephen asks God for forgiveness on behalf of the
Sanhedrin as he dies. We’ve seen many
parallels between Stephen’s time before the Sanhedrin and Jesus’ time before
the Sanhedrin. In the end, both of them
die a martyr’s death praying for their accusers. If this doesn’t say “love your enemy,” I don’t
know what does.

How
many of us would be willing to pray for our enemies as they were actively
trying to kill us? Why might we be
unwilling to be of that mindset?